Written by M.C. Beaton
First published 1992; first book in the long-running series
196 pages, Kindle edition
50-ish Agatha Raisin is fed up with her successful career as a PR whiz and decides to leave London and the fast lane behind for the delights of early retirement. Choosing the quiet Cotswold village of Carsely, she purchases a cottage and quickly settles in — and just as quickly becomes bored with life in the slow lane. Trying to fit in and become popular with her new village crowd, she enters a quiche in the local cooking competition. She's sure no one will find out that instead of preparing the quiche herself, she purchased it from her favorite London caterer.
And she might have gotten away with the little subterfuge, if only the tasty quiche hadn't killed the judge! The poisoning is ruled accidental, so she doesn't end up in jail. But Agatha thinks it was murder and decides the only way to clear her reputation in the village is to find out who really poisoned the quiche of death.
This strange little cozy has been on my TBR shelf for several years now. I went back and forth on liking/not liking, but ended up enjoying it quite a lot. Beaton keeps the story humming along at a good pace, there are a lot of laughs thrown in, and Agatha is a hugely appealing and gloriously flawed character. A good choice for the year's first read. I can definitely see myself continuing with this very quirky series.
Rating: ★★★★
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Qualifies for the following reading challenges:
2019 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge.
2019 GoodReads Reading Challenge.
2019 Mount TBR Reading Challenge.
I've read one of these books and it was just okay for me so I haven't been inclined to pick another one up.
ReplyDeleteI can understand that. I was a little surprised at how much I ended up enjoying the book -- Agatha isn't an easy character to get to like.
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